Who Knows What This Is?

[A_B]

[MattP]

Yes, but I was not born yet or at an age to remember. I know my parents and all their friends do!

[oldjeep]

I would have been 11, but we didn't have cable ;)

[Drago]

Had friends with cable record it for me on their BetaMax

[mwetskier]

got most of them on vhs tapes. for younger folks -vhs tapes were what we used to call dvds. dvds were what we used to call mp4s.

[Wish]

Crap...feeln old now. Thanks @AB and @MattP‌ (not born yet..) for the age check. :-/ That was cool stuff though. The intro basically followed the format of the show. Show waterski pass(s) then show a bikini....pass...bikini...pass....bikini.... Why are we not sponsored by beer companies anymore? All went south when coffee tried to sponsor...coffee...Really?!!?

[MrJones]

I have boxes of VHS tapes with old skiing on them. Need to get those converted one day. As an aside, the most frequently repeated line was "Andy Mapple is this years ___insert city___ men's slalom champion." Of course Mike K. and Wade got a few licks in...

[teammalibu]

I still have most of those taped on beta!!

[MISkier]

I have many of these on tape. There was a stop on the tour nearby at Waterski Paradise in Charlotte, MI. I have that episode on tape and uploaded an old MasterCraft commercial from that broadcast to YouTube. I really miss these and thought they were beneficial to the popularity and mainstream interest in the sport.

[Edbrazil]

From back when in the Tour was in its peak. I watched a lot of them. I worked all

the Tour events back then. From today's perspective, it was a great time in my life,

even though it was a lot of work, especially with events that went week-to-week-to-week.

 

Back in the time when I found my destiny. With a lot of hard work in the hot sun, but

I loved it. Thought it would last forever...until wakeboard came along to edge out

the traditional skiing.

[fu_man]

All you guys with the VHS archives...would be cool to see some of those again.

[MISkier]

@fu_man,

 

Request granted, although I apologize for the lack of sound - crappy video capture device.

 

1990 Tour stop in Charlotte, MI. At about 1:10 in the semifinals, check out the number of people attending this tournament in a small city outside a relatively small metro area. And, this is not the Masters or any specific high profile championship.

 

For the record, it was a very windy day with bumpy water. And, Mike Kjellander was trying a new ski for the very first time that day. It didn't work out for him.

 

Men's slalom semifinals:

 

 

Men's slalom finals:

 

 

 

[fu_man]

@MISkier‌ That is awesome. Thanks. I think it is interesting that they were listing how long the rope was rather than how long it was not. I had to do math! No 55's either.

 

Lucky has the most perfect slalom "posture" of anyone I've seen. Was that his dad CW that they showed a few times?

[Wish]

Wow MIke Kjellander is a BEAST!! Bob L is the king of smoooooth. The go for it attitude was strong back then!!

 

High on my soap box----- Please any and all indaviduals involved in the development of a Pro event in front of crowds of Joe Public take note of how the rope length was displayed in easy to understand "line on" and NOT line off. They knew it was easier for the viewers to understand and KEY to keeping viewer interest. Why the heck can't you all?!?! . Stepping down now.

 

Had been to a couple of those tours. Crowds were always big.

[MISkier]

Yep. That was CW. I really liked Bob LaPoint's technique. He and Lucky both had great body position and that was especially critical in those conditions that day.

 

Wayne Grimditch interviews John Reichard about the bumpy water and the discussion there focuses on "slight knee bend" to absorb the bumps.

 

 

[ALPJr]

When I went to the pro tour stops in Hartford CT and Cherry Hill NJ I'd say there were a few thousand spectators at each one. I always heard that the Marine World stop in Richmond CA drew a big crowd too. Great TV - skiing and pro beach volleyball - made watching the tube on Tuesday nights kinda fun. Good times !

[BRY]

I loved watching those. Always annoyed at how many and long the commercials were, wanted more skiing! Really liked when they would do the side by side replays of the head to head's. Thought Grimdich did a good job commentating, explaining so non-skiers understood but enough content to keep skiers happy. Was best when they had Camile on though.

[skinut]

Ugh...Oakley blades, day glow colors, and short shorts. Who thought short shorts were a good idea, no one wants to see our man jewels fall out!! What were we thinking!!!

 

http://www.oakley.com/products/7351/28532

[ToddL]

I think there is a box around here somewhere with a few VHS tapes full of these tour stop TV episodes...

[BlueSki]

I have a Michelob Dry Water Ski Tour sign in my garage. @BRY is right, Camille increased the show quality.

[ntx]

I know that old site well. My guess is that they would land on the island with the jumpers that are around now.

 

Talk about large crowds, it is hard to beat what they had at Tivoli Gardens at the 77/78 ??? nationals also in Michigan. Estimates are close to 10,000 on the hill for M1/M2 slalom. It was pretty cool to see that many spectators.

[ntx]

In the second vid. Check out how much Bob pulled the driver over at six ball. You can see the prop wash as he comes out the exit gates. Would have loved to see the end course video of that pass. Driver almost took out the gate ball.

[fu_man]

@Horton can you create a "historical" folder under the video tab for stuff like this? I see you have the 1930's Crystal lake video in one of the tabs. However, it would be cool to have old historical stuff like the Horton Lake video, the Tony Klarich stuff, the Wade Cox video, old ski-gear and boat commercials, etc. collected in one place rather than scattered in the forum.

[MrJones]

Awesome! That really makes me want to break out the VHS tapes.

 

I remember thinking how "old" the LaPoints were back then. I am pretty sure CP is about the same age now. 35 sure looks different from the backside.

[TylerR]

I grew up with my dad and uncle watching those on Betamax instead of cable

[Texas6]

I can't wrap my head around Kjellander's 1,3,5

[Porkfight]

I was in 5th or 6th grade recording every episode I could because it was on at 2 AM or something and I couldn't stay up that late. My one waterskiing friend would come over on the weekends and we'd watch the tapes.

 

That and the Jet Ski races. Larry "the Ripper" Rippenkroeger was my hero back then.

[MISkier]

@Texas6, I think Mike's 1,3,5 technique stems from having a reversed grip. He is LFF with his left palm up. My ski partner is from Sweden and trained for years with Mike and Helena when they were kids/teenagers. He (my ski partner) is also LFF with a reversed grip and his 1,3,5 had a similar finish, albeit not a slam dunk style. He switched his grip this year and his 1,3,5 really smoothed out. He is really noticing the benefits of the grip change.

 

 

[Wish]

@MISkier‌ You ski partner is very very smooth... I believe that's all I kept saying from the boat that day. I cannot imagine him ever skiing like Mike.

[MISkier]

@Wish, you're right, he is very automatic. He did have a slight effect on his 1,3,5 finish. He did not do any slam dunking and it was more noticeable at 36 mph than 34 mph. You were watching him post-grip change as well, which has smoothed that out. It was only that little aspect of the 1,3,5 finish that looked familiar. Other than that, he does not ski the rest of the course like Mike did. And, the video of the Tour didn't really represent Mike well, either. He seemed to struggle more that day. But, there is no denying the Kjellander 1,3,5. It is a sight to behold.

[Nando]

I worked as a setup guy for Ed B. at, I think, three of these. Worked in media relations at a couple and judged at a few- man, they were fun. At the 1990 or '91 St. Paul event I won the Friday afternoon short jump contest- 28', I believe, which I was told at the time was a record (now, that's a dubious record). For my efforts I won a case of tepid Michelob Dry (who remembers DRY beer?), which we polished off immediately after the heated competition, and a soft cooler. Those were the days!

[SusanT]

Ah yes....Wayne Grimdich (sic). Not only did I never miss it, I have most of them on VHS. Wish they could do something like that now. It would be wonderful for our sport.

[SusanT]

@MISkier‌ Digging Lucky's mullet and Kris's stash! Those were the days.

[Bulldog]

Neon and no smart phones. Good times.

[GregHind]

If you want to experience that again, and then some, you have to go to Moomba. The number of spectators are amazing. The river is tricky but the skiing show is awesome. I hear all the other big city tournaments are gone but moomba is absolutely huge and it rocks.

[ScarletArrow]

What's sweet is that KLP has recently grown out his 'stache and it looks just like it does on that video!